Roasted Cornish Hens With Chili Butter Recipes

JUICY CORNISH GAME HENS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Melt butter and stir in honey and chili powder; mixing well.
• Stir in orange juice, salt and pepper and remove from heat.
• Cut each hen into two halves.
• Rinse well and pat dry with paper towels.
• Place hens in baking dish, skin side down, and place in oven for 6-8 minutes.
• Turn hens over and baste generously with all of the mixture.
• Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until well browned.

BUTTERFLIED CORNISH HENS WITH SAGE BUTTER

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Place hens on a sheet tray fitted with a cooling rack in the refrigerator to dry skin out for 1 hour. Meanwhile, in a small pan over medium heat, melt butter with sage, zest, salt and pepper. Remove hens from refrigerator. Preheat 2 large saute pans over medium heat, lightly coat with oil. Season hens with salt and pepper and sear, skin side down, in the pans. Sear until skin caramelizes and turns golden brown and crispy, about 7 to 10 minutes. Flip birds over, and baste with sage butter. Sprinkle tops with chopped bacon and place in preheated oven to finish cooking, 25 to 30 minutes, basting occasionally. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

ROASTED CORNISH GAME HENS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a small mixing bowl, stir together salt, lemon pepper, dried basil and poultry seasoning. Rub olive oil all over the hens and season each with the salt mixture. Place the hens on a baking sheet pan with plenty of space between them. You may need to use 2 pans. Loosely stuff the cavities of each hen with some green bell pepper, celery and onion. Roast the hens in the preheated oven for about 1 hour or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees F and the juices run clear. Remove the hens from the oven, loosely tent with foil and let rest 10 minutes before carving or serving.

ROASTED CORNISH HENS WITH VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine first seven ingredients. Transfer to a large shallow roasting pan., Brush hens with oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap a bacon strip around each hen; secure with a wooden toothpick. Tie legs together. Place, breast side up, over vegetables., Bake, uncovered, 1-1/4 to 1-3/4 hours or until a thermometer inserted in thigh reads 180° and vegetables are tender. Remove hens to a serving platter; serve with vegetables.

ROASTED CORNISH HENS WITH BLACK-OLIVE BUTTER

Steps:

• Put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 500°F.
• With motor of a food processor running, drop garlic cloves into processor to finely chop. Add shallot and pulse until finely chopped. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a small skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then add garlic mixture (do not wash bowl of food processor), pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic begins to turn golden, 3 to minutes. Return garlic mixture to food processor and add olives and capers. Pulse until olives and capers are finely chopped. Add 5 tablespoons butter and pulse until smooth.
• Brush baking pan with oil (1 tablespoon).
• Working with 1 hen half at a time, slide your index finger under skin on each breast and around legs, including drumsticks, being careful not to tear skin. Place 1 tablespoon olive butter under skin on each half hen, then massage skin over thigh, drumstick, and breast to distribute butter.
• Arrange hen halves, skin sides up, in baking pan. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in small skillet, then brush evenly over skin of hens. Sprinkle hens evenly with remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt.
• Roast hens until golden and just cooked through, about 30 minutes.
• Transfer hens to a platter, then straddle baking pan over 2 burners and add wine. Deglaze pan by simmering over low heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits with a wooden spoon, 2 minutes. Transfer pan sauce to a small serving bowl and skim fat with a spoon. Serve hens with sauce.

ROASTED CORNISH HENS WITH CHILI BUTTER

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F.
• In a small bowl stir together butter, chili powder, lemon juice, cayenne, salt, and sugar. Rinse and pat hens dry and arrange, skin sides up, on a rack of a broiler pan. Loosen skin near breastbones and rub about 1 teaspoon chili butter under skin of each breast. Rub remaining chili butter on skin and roast hens in middle of oven until juices run clear when fleshy part of a thigh is pierced, about 25 minutes.

HONEY ROASTED CORNISH GAME HENS

Steps:

• Split hen in half. Wash and pat dry. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Brush both sides with 3 Tbs butter.
• Place breast side down on a rack in a shallow pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes.
• Turn. Brush with butter and bake for 25 minutes.
• Mix honey with 1 1/2 Tbs melted butter. Brush half the mixture on the hen. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn and brush with remaining honey mixture. Bake for 15 minutes longer.

ROAST CORNISH HENS WITH HERBS AND PANCETTA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Chop the sage, rosemary and thyme and mix with the butter. Push the herb butter under the loosened skin of the breasts of the poussins or hens. Truss the poussins, season with salt and pepper and cover the breasts with pancetta. Sprinkle with olive oil.
• Place the poussins in a roasting pan and roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Degrease the pan juices and season to taste. Place each poussin on a heated plate and pour a serving of sauce around each one.